New Zealand Herald - Television industry

A former public relations officer involved in the coverup at the Roswell airbase has admitted that he did actually see a crashed spaceship, and the bodies of aliens in July 1947 .

Lieutenant Walter Haut worked as a PR man at Roswell at the time of the alleged UFO crash, and was involved in selling the 'weather balloon' story to the media and locals. Just a day after an initial release admitting a Flying Disc had been captured by the Air Force, Haut was ordered to change the official story.

However, in a signed, sealed affidavit which Lt Haut left to be opened upon his death, he revealed the "crashed weather balloon" was simply a Government-ordered cover story, aimed at diverting attention from a second (and more important) crash site.

Haut - who died last year - claims in the signed statement that the real crashed object had been stored by the military in Building 84 at Roswell Base. He admits to handling the material the craft was made of.

"Samples of wreckage were passed around the table. It was unlike any material I had or have ever seen in my life. Pieces which resembled metal foil, paper thin yet extremely strong, and pieces with unusual markings along their length were handled from man to man, each voicing their opinion. No one was able to identify the crash debris."

Lt Haut describes a quick tour of the hanger where the wreckage was being kept. He saw an "egg-shaped craft with no windows or landing gear, and "a couple of bodies under canvas" that appeared to be the size of a ten year old child but with disproportionately large heads."

Haut says in the notarised affidavit that he's "convinced that what I personally observed was some type of craft and its crew from outer space."